This is in response to the article “Life, death in a mill town,” printed July 23.

We all retain poignant and nostalgic memories of the town we grew up in. I cried when I read about my home town of Weirton, W.Va., and the memories I have of the people I grew up with, and who lived there.

My father, brothers, friends and relatives worked at Weirton Steel. I remember good old Weir High School, the wearing of the red and black, the sled-riding down those West Virginia hills, with huge bonfires roasting potatoes, and the July 4 parades.

But, most of all, I remember my father gasping for breath when he returned from his job in the mill.

Yes, I remember life with father, a lovely home, good food always, and my father’s pride and joy – his garden.

Who could have imagined that a girl from Weirton, W.Va., would marry a boy from Maine? When I told my mother I was marrying a boy from Maine, she exclaimed, “Maine, isn’t that where they grow potatoes?”

If the death of a mill could happen to a town located hundreds of miles from here, it could happen here in Rumford, or in a mill town anywhere.

Why not buy American products? We are supporting the world instead of ourselves, and eventually it will affect all of us.

Lola M. Bisson, Rumford